The 41st Biel International Chess Festival took place from July 20th - 31st,
2008. The Grandmaster Tournament is a category 18 event with an average rating
of 2686.
Round 10: Thursday, July 31, 2008 |
Evgeny Alekseev |
1-0 |
Yannick Pelletier |
Magnus Carlsen |
½-½ |
Alexander Onischuk |
Etienne Bacrot |
1-0 |
Leinier Dominguez |
|
In the nerve-racking tiebreak two 15-minute rapid games were drawn, so two
blitz games at 5 minutes plus two seconds increment were played. The first was
a draw, the second, a wild struggle, Alekseev was victorious, with 18 seconds
left on his clock.
Dominguez Perez,L (2708) - Alekseev,Evgeny (2708) [C65]
41st Festival GM Playoff Biel SUI (4), 31.07.2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.Re1 Bb6 8.h3
Ne7 9.Nbd2 c6 10.Ba4 Ng6 11.Nf1 h6 12.Ng3 Re8 13.d4 Qc7 14.Bc2 Be6 15.Be3 Rad8
16.Qc1 Kh7 17.Bd3 c5 18.Nf5 Bxf5 19.exf5 Nf8 20.Bb5 Re7 21.dxe5 dxe5 22.Qc2
e4 23.Nd2 Qe5 24.f3 Qxf5 25.fxe4 Qg6 26.Bf2 Ne6 27.Nf3 Nf4 28.Nh4 Nxh3+ 29.Kf1
Qg4 30.e5+ g6 31.exf6 Rxe1+ 32.Bxe1 c4 33.Qe2 Qf4+ 34.Nf3 Rd3 35.Bd2 Be3
Leinier Dominguez, who had been leading by a full point in the final rounds,
is a piece up and can win the event with 36.Be3. Instead he incurs the ultimate
tragody of stumbling at the finish line: 36.Bxc4?? Rxd2 37.gxh3 Rxe2
38.Kxe2 Qxc4+ 39.Kxe3 Qe6+ 40.Kf2 Qxf6 41.Re1 Qb6+ 42.Kg3 Qxb2 43.Re7 Kg7 44.Re3
Qxa2. It is hopeless, Alekseev has much more time on the clock. 0-1.
[Click to replay or download
the tiebreak games]
Final standings

Impressions from the final round in Biel
Pictorial report by Frederic Friedel
We left Biel in somewhat of a hurry. In the night after the final round there
was a violent thunderstorm with lightning and thunder simultaneously,
and ear-splitting cracks, indicating that the bolts were striking very close
by. The next morning there was a prize-giving ceremony, then a festive lunch.
After that we took a train – the fastest means of transport in this case
– to Mainz, to deliver Magnus Carlsen into the clutches of Vishy Anand,
Alexander Morozevich and Judit Polgar. We arrived in Mainz just 35 minutes before
the start of the first round of the Rapid
Chess World Championship. Magnus, brave lad that he is, took all of this
in his stride.
As a result, our final report from Biel was very cursory. Today we
return to Biel and provide you with impressions from the final day of the International
Chess Festival that took place there from July 20th - 31st.

The city of Biel, quiet and serene, with a canal river running through its
middle

Fountains gush out of the street on the main square

The venue – the "palais des congrès"

Break dancers practicing at the entrance to the theatre

Very athletic – and all part of the act

A young talent trying his first breakdance steps

Alexander Onischuk vs Magnus Carlsen in the final round in Biel

Alexander Onischuk, originally from Ukraine, now USA.
Incidentally: the name is pronounced "onny-shook"

Etienne Bacrot (pronounced "etty-enn back-row") watching onny-shook
suffer

IM Werner Hug ("who-g", left)
Hug won the World Junior Championship in 1971. Two years earlier he missed
a mate in two against a Russian player, who escaped with a draw and thus qualified
for the Junior World Championship – and went on to win it. Before we forget:
the young Russian player was one Anatoly Karpov. Hug is one of the most entertaining
players we know.

A veteran spectator in the front row

Enormously talented Cuban GM Leinier ("ly-nee-eh") Dominguez

Norwegian super-talent Magnus Carlsen (pronounced "Magnus Carlsen")
Magnus was desperately eager to win the full point against Alexander Onischuk,
in order to have a chance of forcing a playoff against the leading Leinier Dominguez, who
was losing to Etienne Bacrot. Here are some impressions of the young GM in his
working pose. We also reveal the secrets of his phenomenal success in the game.

A central piece of advice for young chess players: never ever run out of
orange juice

Another important point: use your fingers to count the material on the board

Study the position from every possible angle

Pay special attention to the kingside

And make sure you are more relaxed and suffering less than your opponent

Unfortunately it didn't work this time, Magnus drew and finished third

Swiss GM Yannick Pelletier (pronounced "pell-tee-ay")
For Yannick this tournament turned into a nightmare. He lives in Montpellier,
France, and took the TGV train to Biel. The high-speed train (imaginatively
named "train de grande vitesse" or "high-speed train"
by the French) has a rack for large pieces of luggage near the entrance to each
carriage. That is where Yannick deposited his suitcase when he boarded. After
a while he noticed that it was no longer there – it had been removed by
a thief while the train was still in Montpellier station. Then to compound his
sorrows he sprained his ankle badly on his arrival in Biel. But while narrating
all of this Yannick, an old friend and Mr Nice Guy in person, quickly stressed
that these were not the reasons for his abysmal minus seven performance.

The man of the moment in the last round: Evgeny Alekseev ("alek-say-ev"),
who forced a playoff

The late-night playoff filmed with three video cameras

Between the games Evgeny Alekseev chats with Russian players and fans

The traumatic end for Leinier: he blunders in a clearly won position and
takes second place

The players in Biel: Alexander Onischuk, Leinier Dominguez, Evgeny Alekseev,
Magnus Carlsen, Etienne Bacrot, Yannick Pelletier. The organisers speculated
that since Magnus Carlsen had been second two years ago, and won the event last
year, he had wanted to try the remaining position on the winners' staircase.

The Swiss celebrating Alekseev's victory – or was it their National
Day?
Actually August 1st is celebrated to commemorate the founding of the Swiss
Confederation – back in 1291! In that year a historic alliance was forged
by the three cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden. This was to become the
focal point around which the Switzerland of today was built over the next 500
years.

Live broadcast of the 41st Biel Chess Festival, brought to you by ChessBase
Switzerland
All photos by Frederic Friedel in Biel
All results, games and reports
Round 1: Sunday, July 22, 2008 |
Evgeny Alekseev |
1-0 |
Etienne Bacrot |
Magnus Carlsen |
1-0 |
Yannick Pelletier |
Leinier Dominguez |
½-½ |
Alexander Onischuk |
|
|
Round 2: Monday, July 21, 2008 |
Evgeny Alekseev |
½-½ |
Magnus Carlsen |
Yannick Pelletier |
½-½ |
Leinier Dominguez |
Etienne Bacrot |
½-½ |
Alexander Onischuk |
|
|
Round 3: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 |
Leinier Dominguez |
½-½ |
Evgeny Alekseev |
Magnus Carlsen |
1-0 |
Etienne Bacrot |
Alexander Onischuk |
1-0 |
Yannick Pelletier |
|
|
Round 4: Thursday, July 24, 2008 |
Yannick Pelletier |
0-1 |
Evgeny Alekseev |
Alexander Onischuk |
½-½ |
Magnus Carlsen |
Leinier Dominguez |
1-0 |
Etienne Bacrot |
|
|
Round 5: Friday, July 25, 2008 |
Evgeny Alekseev |
½-½ |
Alexander Onischuk |
Magnus Carlsen |
½-½ |
Leinier Dominguez |
Etienne Bacrot |
1-0 |
Yannick Pelletier |
|
|
Round 6: Saturday, July 26, 2008 |
Etienne Bacrot |
1-0 |
Evgeny Alekseev |
Yannick Pelletier |
0-1 |
Magnus Carlsen |
Alexander Onischuk |
0-1 |
Leinier Dominguez |
|
|
Round 7: Monday, July 28, 2008 |
Magnus Carlsen |
0-1 |
Evgeny Alekseev |
Leinier Dominguez |
1-0 |
Yannick Pelletier |
Alexander Onischuk |
0-1 |
Etienne Bacrot |
|
|
Round 8: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 |
Evgeny Alekseev |
0-1 |
Leinier Dominguez |
Etienne Bacrot |
½-½ |
Magnus Carlsen |
Yannick Pelletier |
½-½ |
Alexander Onischuk |
|
|
Round 9: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 |
Alexander Onischuk |
0-1 |
Evgeny Alekseev |
Leinier Dominguez |
½-½ |
Magnus Carlsen |
Yannick Pelletier |
½-½ |
Etienne Bacrot |
|
|
Round 10: Thursday, July 31, 2008 |
Evgeny Alekseev |
1-0 |
Yannick Pelletier |
Magnus Carlsen |
½-½ |
Alexander Onischuk |
Etienne Bacrot |
1-0 |
Leinier Dominguez |
|
|